Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation (UPPCL) has invited bids to set up a 300 MW/1,200 MWh standalone Battery Energy Storage System (BESS).

The last day to submit the bids is September 22, 2024. Bids will be opened on September 25.

Bidders must furnish a document fee of ₹25,000 (~$297) and a document processing fee of ₹100,000 (~$1,191). They must also submit an earnest money deposit of ₹740,000 (~$8,813)/MW.

Selected bidders must submit $1.85 million (~$22,033)/MW/project as a performance bank guarantee.

The project must be commissioned within 18 months from the effective date of the Battery Energy Storage Purchase Agreement (BESPA). The agreement will be valid for 12 years from the project’s commissioning date.

Any energy source, including conventional ones, can be used to charge the BESS. Developers do not need to own the energy source.

The project will be situated near a substation on the intra-state network. UPPTCL will identify and provide the land, which will be leased to the BESS developer through an agreement.

The total capacity is 1,200 MWh (300 MW x 4 hours). Bidders must submit a single bid for one project with a capacity between 50 MW and 300 MW, in multiples of 50 MW (e.g., 50 MW, 100 MW, 150 MW, etc.). Bids that do not comply with these multiples will be rejected.

UPPCL will off-take 100% of the contracted capacity under the BESPA.

The BESS developer must ensure a minimum system availability of 95% annually. Failure to meet this will result in liquidated damages, calculated at twice the capacity charges for the unavailable capacity.

Only commercially established and operational technologies will be accepted to reduce risk and ensure timely project completion.

Bidders must have a net worth equal to or greater than ₹7.4 million (~$88,135) /MW as of the last of the previous financial year.

The bidders’ minimum annual turnover should have been at least ₹1.85 million (~$22,033)/MW of the quoted capacity during the last financial year.

The internal resource generation capability in the form of profit before depreciation, interest, and taxes should be at least ₹370,000 (~$4406)/MW of the quoted capacity as of the last day of the previous financial year.

Bidders should have an approval letter from lending institutions committing a line of credit for a minimum of ₹462,000 (~$5,502)/MW of the quoted capacity toward meeting the working capital requirement of the project.

In February, UPPCL invited bids from project developers to set up 2 GW of grid-connected solar power projects.

India’s total BESS capacity reached 219.1 MWh as of March 2024, according to Mercom India Research’s report, India’s Energy Storage Landscape.